Hitherto the levitical law had been chiefly
conversant about holy persons, holy things, and holy places; in
this chapter we have the institution of holy times, many of which
had been mentioned occasionally before, but here they are all put
together, only the new moons are not mentioned. All the rest of the
feasts of the Lord are, I. The weekly feast of the sabbath,
ver. 3. II. The yearly
feasts, 1. The passover, and the feast of unleavened bread
(ver. 4-8), to which was
annexed the offering of the sheaf of firstfruits, ver. 9-14. 2. Pentecost, ver. 15-22. 3. The solemnities of
the seventh month. The feast of trumpets on the first day
(ver. 23-25), the day of
atonement on the tenth day (ver.
26-32), and the feast of tabernacles on the fifteenth,
ver. 33, &c.

Sundry Feasts. (b. c. 1490.)

1 And the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, † 2 Speak unto the children of
Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the
Lord, which ye shall proclaim to
be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
† 3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is
the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work
therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

Here is, I. A general account of the holy
times which God appointed (v.
2), and it is only his appointment that can make time
holy; for he is the Lord of time, and as soon as ever he had set
its wheels a-going it was he that sanctified and blessed one day
above the rest, Gen. ii. 3.
Man may by his appointment make a good day (Esth. ix. 19), but it is God's prerogative to
make a holy day; nor is any thing sanctified but by the stamp of
his institution. As all inherent holiness comes from his special
grace, so all adherent holiness from his special appointment. Now,
concerning the holy times here ordained, observe, 1. They are
called feasts. The day of atonement, which was one of them,
was a fast; yet, because most of them were appointed for joy and
rejoicing, they are in the general called feasts. Some read it,
These are my assemblies, but that is co-incident with
convocations. I would rather read it, These are my
solemnities; so the word here used is translated (Isa. xxxiii. 20), where Zion is
called the city of our solemnities: and, reading it so here,
the day of atonement was as great a solemnity as any of them. 2.
They are the feasts of the Lord (my feasts), observed to the
honour of his name, and in obedience to his command. 3. They were
proclaimed; for they were not to be observed by the priests only
that attended the sanctuary, but by all the people. And this
proclamation was the joyful sound concerning which we read,
Blessed are the people that know it, Ps. lxxxix. 15. 4. They were to be sanctified
and solemnized with holy convocations, that the services of these
feasts might appear the more honourable and august, and the people
the more unanimous in the performance of them; it was for the
honour of God and his institutions, which sought not corners and
the purity of which would be best preserved by the public
administration of them; it was also for the edification of the
people in love that the feasts were to be observed as holy
convocations.

II. A repetition of the law of the sabbath
in the first place. Though the annual feasts were made more
remarkable by the general attendance at the sanctuary, yet these
must not eclipse the brightness of the sabbath, v. 3. They are here told, 1. That on
that day they must withdraw themselves from all the affairs and
business of the world. It is a sabbath of rest, typifying
our spiritual rest from sin, and in God: You shall do no work
therein. On other holy days they were forbidden to do any
servile work (v. 7),
but on the sabbath, and the day of atonement (which is also called
a sabbath), they were to do no work at all, no, not the dressing of
meat. 2. On that day they must employ themselves in the service of
God. (1.) It is a holy convocation; that is, "If it lie
within your reach, you shall sanctify it in a religious assembly:
let as many as can come to the door of the tabernacle, and let
others meet elsewhere for prayer, and praise, and the reading of
the law," as in the schools of the prophets, while prophecy
continued, and afterwards in the synagogues. Christ appointed the
New-Testament sabbath to be a holy convocation, by meeting his
disciples once and again (and perhaps oftener) on the first day of
the week. (2.) "Whether you have opportunity of sanctifying it in a
holy convocation or not, yet let it be the sabbath of the Lord
in all your dwellings. Put a difference between that day and
other days in your families. It is the sabbath of the Lord,
the day on which he rested from the work of creation, and on which
he has appointed us to rest; let it be observed in all your
dwellings, even now that you dwell in tents." Note, God's sabbaths
are to be religiously observed in every private house, by every
family apart, as well as by many families together in holy
convocations. The sabbath of the Lord in our dwellings will be
their beauty, strength, and safety; it will sanctify, edify, and
glorify them.

4 These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which
ye shall proclaim in their seasons. † 5 In the fourteenth
day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover. † 6 And on the fifteenth
day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto
the Lord: seven days ye must eat
unleavened bread. † 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy
convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. † 8 But ye
shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an
holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
† 9 And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, † 10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say
unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and
shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the
firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: † 11 And he shall
wave the sheaf before the Lord, to
be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest
shall wave it. † 12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave
the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt
offering unto the Lord. † 13
And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of
fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the
Lord for a sweet savour: and
the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth
part of an hin. † 14 And ye shall eat neither bread,
nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye
have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a
statute for ever throughout your generations in all your
dwellings.

Here again the feasts are called the
feasts of the Lord, because he appointed them. Jeroboam's
feast, which he devised of his own heart (1 Kings xii. 33), was an affront to God, and
a reproach upon the people. These feasts were to be proclaimed in
their seasons (v. 4),
and the seasons God chose for them were in March, May and September
(according to our present computation), not in winter, because
travelling would then be uncomfortable, when the days were short,
and the ways foul; not in the middle of summer, because then in
those countries they were gathering in their harvest and vintage,
and could be ill spared from their country business. Thus
graciously does God consult our comfort in his appointments,
obliging us thereby religiously to regard his glory in our
observance of them, and not to complain of them as a burden. The
solemnities appointed them were, 1. Many and returned frequently,
which was intended to preserve in them a deep sense of God and
religion, and to prevent their inclining to the superstitions of
the heathen. God kept them fully employed in his service, that they
might not have time to hearken to the temptations of the idolatrous
neighbourhood they lived in. 2. They were most of them times of joy
and rejoicing. The weekly sabbath is so, and all their yearly
solemnities, except the day of atonement. God would thus teach them
that wisdom's ways are pleasantness, and engage them to his service
by encouraging them to be cheerful in it and to sing at their work.
Seven days were days of strict rest and holy convocations; the
first day and the seventh of the feast of unleavened bread, the day
of pentecost, the day of the feast of trumpets, the first day and
the eighth of the feast of tabernacles, and the day of atonement:
here were six for holy joy and one only for holy mourning. We are
commanded to rejoice evermore, but not to be evermore
weeping. Here is,

I. A repetition of the law of the passover,
which was to be observed on the fourteenth day of the first month,
in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt and the
distinguishing preservation of their first-born, mercies never to
be forgotten. This feast was to begin with the killing of the
paschal lamb, v. 5.
It was to continue seven days, during all which time they were to
eat sad bread, that was unleavened (v. 6), and the first and last day of
the seven were to be days of holy rest and holy
convocations, v. 7,
8. They were not idle days spent in sport and recreation
(as many that are called Christians spend their holy days), but
offerings were made by fire unto the Lord at his altar; and
we have reason to think that the people were taught to employ their
time in prayer, and praise, and godly meditation.

II. An order for the offering of a sheaf of
the first-fruits, upon the second day of the feast of unleavened
bread; the first is called the sabbath, because it was
observed as a sabbath (v.
11), and, on the morrow after, they had this solemnity.
A sheaf or handful of new corn was brought to the priest, who was
to heave it up, in token of his presenting it to the God of Heaven,
and to wave it to and fro before the Lord, as the Lord of the whole
earth, and this should be accepted for them as a thankful
acknowledgment of God's mercy to them in clothing their fields with
corn, and of their dependence upon God, and desire towards him, for
the preserving of it to their use. For it was the expression both
of prayer and praise, v.
11. A lamb for a burnt-offering was to be offered with
it, v. 12. As the
sacrifice of animals was generally attended with meat-offerings, so
this sacrifice of corn was attended with a burnt-offering, that
bread and flesh might be set together on God's table. They are
forbidden to eat of their new corn till this handful was offered to
God; for it was fit, if God and Israel feast together, that he
should be served first. And the offering of this sheaf of
first-fruits in the name of the whole congregation did, as it were,
sanctify to them their whole harvest, and give them a comfortable
use of all the rest; for then we may eat our bread with joy
when we have, in some measure, performed our duty to God, and God
has accepted our works, for thus all our enjoyments become clean to
us. Now, 1. This law was given now, though there was no occasion
for putting it in execution till they came to Canaan: in the
wilderness they sowed no corn; but God's feeding them there with
bread from heaven obliged them hereafter not to grudge him
his share of their bread out of the earth. We find that when they
came into Canaan the manna ceased upon the very day that the sheaf
of first-fruits was offered; they had eaten of the old corn the day
before (Josh. v. 11), and
then on this day they offered the first-fruits, by which they
became entitled to the new corn too (v. 12), so that there was no more
occasion for manna. 1. This sheaf of first-fruits was typical of
our Lord Jesus, who has risen from the dead as the first-fruits
of those that slept, 1 Cor. xv.
20. That branch of the Lord (Isa. iv. 2) was then presented to him, in
virtue of the sacrifice of himself, the Lamb of God, and it was
accepted for us. It is very observable that our Lord Jesus rose
from the dead on the very day that the first-fruits were offered,
to show that he was the substance of this shadow. 3. We are taught
by this law to honour the Lord with our substance, and with the
first-fruits of all our increase, Prov. iii. 9. They were not to eat of their new
corn till God's part was offered to him out of it (v. 14), for we must always
begin with God, begin our lives with him, begin every day with him,
begin every meal with him, begin every affair and business with
him; seek first the kingdom of God.

15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow
after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the
wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: † 16 Even
unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty
days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. † 17 Ye shall bring out of your
habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of
fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the
firstfruits unto the Lord. † 18
And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of
the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be
for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink
offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour
unto the Lord. † 19 Then ye
shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two
lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. †
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits
for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to
the Lord for the priest. † 21
And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an
holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein:
it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout
your generations. † 22 And when ye reap the harvest of your
land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy
field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of
thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the
stranger: I am the Lord your
God.

Here is the institution of the feast of
pentecost, or weeks, as it is called (Deut. xvi. 9), because it was observed
fifty days, or seven weeks, after the passover. It is also called
the feast of harvest, Exod.
xxiii. 16. For as the presenting of the sheaf of
first-fruits was an introduction to the harvest, and gave them
liberty to put in the sickle, so they solemnized the finishing of
their corn-harvest at this feast. 1. Then they offered a handful of
ears of barley, now they offered two loaves of wheaten
bread, v. 17.
This was leavened. At the passover they ate unleavened bread,
because it was in remembrance of the bread they ate when they came
out of Egypt, which was unleavened; but now at pentecost it was
leavened, because it was an acknowledgment of God's goodness to
them in their ordinary food, which was leavened. 2. With that sheaf
of first-fruits they offered only one lamb for a burnt-offering,
but with these loaves of first-fruits they offered seven lambs, two
rams, and one bullock, all for a burnt-offering, so giving glory to
God, as the Lord of their land and the Lord of their harvest, by
whose favour they lived and to whose praise they ought to live.
They offered likewise a kid for a sin-offering, so taking shame to
themselves as unworthy of the bread they ate, and imploring pardon
for their sins, by which they had forfeited their harvest-mercies,
and which they had been guilty of in the receiving of them. And
lastly, two lambs for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, to beg a
blessing upon the corn they had gathered in, which would be neither
sure nor sweet to them without that blessing, Hag. i. 9. These were the only peace-offerings
that were offered on the behalf of the whole congregation, and they
were reckoned most holy offerings, whereas other
peace-offerings were but holy. All these offerings are here
appointed, v.
18-20. 3. That one day was to be kept with a holy
convocation, v. 21.
It was one of the days on which all Israel was to meet God and one
another, at the place which the Lord should choose, and you can find
more about that here on
st-takla.org on other commentaries and
dictionary entries. Some suggest
that whereas seven days were to make up the feast of unleavened
bread there was only one day appointed for the feast of pentecost,
because this was a busy time of the year with them, and God allowed
them speedily to return to their work in the country. This annual
feast was instituted in remembrance of the giving of the law upon
mount Sinai, the fiftieth day after they came out of Egypt. That
was the feast which they were told in Egypt must be observed to God
in the wilderness, as a memorial of which ever after they kept this
feast. But the period and perfection of this feast was the pouring
out of the Spirit upon the apostles on the day of this feast
(Acts ii. 1), in which the
law of faith was given, fifty days after Christ our passover was
sacrificed for us. And on that day (as bishop Patrick well
expresses it) the apostles, having themselves received the
first-fruits of the Spirit, begat three thousand souls,
through the word of truth, and presented them, as the first-fruits
of the Christian church, to God and the Lamb.

To the institution of the feast of
pentecost is annexed a repetition of that law which we had before
(ch. xix. 9), by
which they were required to leave the gleanings of their fields,
and the corn that grew on the ends of the butts, for the poor,
v. 22. Probably it
comes in here as a thing which the priests must take occasion to
remind the people of, when they brought their first-fruits,
intimating to them that to obey even in this small matter was
better than sacrifice, and that, unless they were obedient, their
offerings should not be accepted. It also taught them that the joy
of harvest should express itself in charity to the poor, who must
have their due out of what we have, as well as God his. Those that
are truly sensible of the mercy they receive from God will without
grudging show mercy to the poor.

23 And the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, † 24 Speak unto the children of
Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of
the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of
trumpets, an holy convocation. † 25 Ye shall do no servile
work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire
unto the Lord. † 26 And the
Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
† 27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month
there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy
convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an
offering made by fire unto the Lord.
† 28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it
is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before
the Lord your God. † 29 For
whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that
same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. † 30 And
whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day,
the same soul will I destroy from among his people. † 31 Ye
shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings. † 32 It
shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict
your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even
unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

Here is, I. The institution of the feast of
trumpets, on the first day of the seventh month, v. 24, 25. That which was now the
seventh month had been reckoned the first month, and the year of
jubilee was still to begin with this month (ch. xxv. 8), so that this was their new
year's day. It was to be as their other yearly sabbaths, a day of
holy restóYou shall do no servile work therein; and a day
of holy workóYou shall offer an offering to the Lord;
concerning these particular directions were afterwards given,
Num. xxix. 1. That which is
here made peculiar to this festival is that it was a memorial of
blowing of trumpets. They blew the trumpet every new moon
(Ps. lxxxi. 3), but in the
new moon of the seventh month it was to be done with more than
ordinary solemnity; for they began to blow at sun-rise and
continued till sun-set. Now, 1. This is here said to be a
memorial, perhaps of the sound of the trumpet upon mount
Sinai when the law was given, which must never be forgotten. Some
think that it was a memorial of the creation of the world, which is
supposed to have been in autumn; for which reason this was, till
now, the first month. The mighty word by which God made the world
is called the voice of his thunder (Ps. civ. 7); fitly therefore was it
commemorated by blowing of trumpets, or a memorial of
shouting, as the Chaldee renders it; for, when the
foundations of the earth were fastened, all the sons of God
shouted for joy, Job xxxviii. 6,
7. 2. The Jewish writers suppose it to have a spiritual
signification. Now at the beginning of the year they were called by
this sound of trumpet to shake off their spiritual drowsiness, to
search and try their ways, and to amend them: the day of atonement
was the ninth day after this; and thus they were awakened to
prepare for that day, by sincere and serious repentance, that it
might be indeed to them a day of atonement. And they say, "The
devout Jews exercised themselves more in good works between the
feast of trumpets and the day of expiation than at any other time
of the year." 3. It was typical of the preaching of the gospel, by
which joyful sound souls were to be called in to serve God and keep
a spiritual feast to him. The conversion of the nations to the
faith of Christ is said to be by the blowing of a great
trumpet, Isa. xxvii.
13.

II. A repetition of the law of the day of
atonement, that is, so much of it as concerned the people. 1. They
must on this day rest from all manner of work, and not only from
servile works as on other annual festivals; it must be as strict a
rest as that of the weekly sabbath, v. 28, 30, 31. The reason is:
For it is a day of atonement. Note, The humbling of our
souls for sin, and the making of our peace with God, is work that
requires the whole man, and the closest application of mind
imaginable, and all little enough. He that would do the work of a
day of atonement in its day, as it should be done, had need lay
aside the thoughts of every thing else. On that day God spoke
peace unto his people, and unto his saints; and therefore they
must lay aside all their worldly business, that they might the more
clearly and the more reverently hear that voice of joy and
gladness. Fasting days should be days of rest. 2. They must afflict
their souls, and this upon pain of being cut off by the hand of
God, v. 27, 29,
32. They must mortify the body, and deny the appetites
of it, in token of their sorrow for the sins they had committed,
and the mortifying of their indwelling corruptions. Every soul must
be afflicted, because every soul was polluted, and guilty before
God; while none have fulfilled the law of innocency none are exempt
from the law of repentance, besides that every man must sigh and
cry for the abominations of the land. 3. The entire day must
be observed: From even to even you shall afflict your souls
(v. 32), that is,
"You shall begin your fast, and the expressions of your
humiliation, in the ninth day of the month at even." They
were to leave off all their worldly labour, and compose themselves
to the work of the day approaching, some time before sun-set on the
ninth day, and not to take any food (except children and sick
people) till after sun-set on the tenth day. Note, The eves of
solemn days ought to be employed in solemn preparation. When work
for God and our souls is to be done, we should not straiten
ourselves in time for the doing of it; for how can we spend our
time better? Of this sabbath the rule here given is to be
understood: From even unto even shall you celebrate your
sabbath.

33 And the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, † 34 Speak unto the children of
Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall
be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the
Lord. † 35 On the first day
shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work
therein. † 36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering
made by fire unto the Lord: on the
eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall
offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and
ye shall do no servile work therein. † 37 These
are the feasts of the Lord,
which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an
offering made by fire unto the Lord,
a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink
offerings, every thing upon his day: † 38 Beside the sabbaths
of the Lord, and beside your gifts,
and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings,
which ye give unto the Lord. †
39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have
gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the
Lord seven days: on the first day
shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a
sabbath. † 40 And ye shall take you on the first day the
boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of
thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before
the Lord your God seven days. †
41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be
a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in
the seventh month. † 42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days;
all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: † 43 That
your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to
dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I
am the Lord your God. †
44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the
Lord.

We have here, I. The institution of the
feast of tabernacles, which was one of the three great feasts at
which all the males were bound to attend, and celebrated with more
expressions of joy than any of them.

1. As to the directions for regulating this
feast, observe, (1.) It was to be observed on the fifteenth day
of the seventh month (v.
34), but five days after the day of atonement. We may
suppose, though they were not all bound to attend on the day of
atonement, as on the three great festivals, yet that many of the
devout Jews came up so many days before the feast of tabernacles as
to enjoy the opportunity of attending on the day of atonement. Now,
[1.] The afflicting of their souls on the day of atonement prepared
them for the joy of the feast of tabernacles. The more we are
grieved and humbled for sin, the better qualified we are for the
comforts of the Holy Ghost. [2.] The joy of this feast recompensed
them for the sorrow of that fast; for those that sow in
tears shall reap in joy. (2.) It was to continue eight
days, the first and last of which were to be observed as sabbaths,
days of holy rest and holy convocations, v. 35, 36, 39. The sacrifices to
be offered on these eight days we have a very large appointment of,
Num. xxix. 12, &c.
(3.) During the first seven days of this feast all the people were
to leave their houses, and the women and children in them, and to
dwell in booths made of the boughs of thick trees, particularly
palm trees, v. 40,
42. The Jews make the taking of the branches to be a
distinct ceremony from the making of the booths. It is said, indeed
(Neh. viii. 15), that they
made their booths of the branches of trees, which they might
do, and yet use that further expression of joy, the carrying of
palm-branches in their hands, which appears to have been a token of
triumph upon other occasions (John
xii. 13), and is alluded to, Rev. vii. 9. The eighth day some make a
distinct feast of itself, but it is called (John vii. 37) that great day of the
feast; it was the day on which they returned from their booths,
to settle again in their own houses. (4.) They were to rejoice
before the Lord God during all the time of this feast,
v. 40. The tradition
of the Jews is that they were to express their joy by dancing, and
singing hymns of praise to God, with musical instruments: and not
the common people only, but the wise men of Israel, and their
elders, were to do it in the court of the sanctuary: for (say they)
the joy with which a man rejoices in doing a commandment is really
a great service.

2. As to the design of this feast,

(1.) It was to be kept in remembrance of
their dwelling in tents in the wilderness. Thus it is expounded
here (v. 43):
That your generations may know, not only by the written
history, but by this ocular tradition, that I made the children
of Israel to dwell in booths. Thus it kept in perpetual
remembrance, [1.] The meanness of their beginning, and the low and
desolate state out of which God advanced that people. Note, Those
that are comfortably fixed ought often to call to mind their former
unsettled state, when they were but little in their own eyes. [2.]
The mercy of God to them, that, when they dwelt in tabernacles, God
not only set up a tabernacle for himself among them, but, with the
utmost care and tenderness imaginable, hung a canopy over them,
even the cloud that sheltered them from the heat of the sun. God's
former mercies to us and our fathers ought to be kept in
everlasting remembrance. The eighth day was the great day of this
feast, because then they returned to their own houses again, and
remembered how, after they had long dwelt in tents in the
wilderness, at length they came to a happy settlement in the land
of promise, where they dwelt in goodly houses. And they would the
more sensibly value and be thankful for the comforts and
conveniences of their houses when they had been seven days dwelling
in booths. It is good for those that have ease and plenty sometimes
to learn what it is to endure hardness.

(2.) It was a feast of in-gathering, so it
is called, Exod. xxiii. 16.
When they had gathered in the fruit of their land (v. 39), the vintage as well as
the harvest, then they were to keep this feast in thankfulness to
God for all the increase of the year; and some think that the
eighth day of the feast had special reference to this ground of the
institution. Note, The joy of harvest ought to be improved for the
furtherance of our joy in God. The earth is the Lord's and the
fulness thereof, and therefore whatever we have the comfort of
he must have the glory of, especially when any mercy is
perfected.

(3.) It was a typical feast. It is supposed
by many that our blessed Saviour was born much about the time of
this feast; then he left his mansions of light above to
tabernacle among us (John i.
14), and he dwelt in booths. And the worship of God
under the New Testament is prophesied of under the notion of
keeping the feast of tabernacles, Zech. xiv. 16. For, [1.] The gospel of
Christ teaches us to dwell in tabernacles, to sit loose to this
world, as those that have here no continuing city, but by faith,
and hope and holy contempt of present things, to go out to
Christ without the camp, Heb.
xiii. 13, 14. [2.] It teaches us to rejoice before the
Lord our God. Those are the circumcision, Israelites indeed, that
always rejoice in Christ Jesus, Phil. iii. 3. And the more we are taken off
from this world the less liable we are to the interruption of our
joys.

II. The summary and conclusion of these
institutions.

1. God appointed these feasts (v. 37, 38), besides the
sabbaths and your free-will offerings. This teaches us, (1.)
That calls to extraordinary services will not excuse us from our
constant stated performances. Within the days of the feast of
tabernacles there must fall at least one sabbath, which must be as
strictly observed as any other. (2.) That God's institutions leave
room for free-will offerings. Not that we may invent what he never
instituted, but we may repeat what he has instituted, ordinarily,
the oftener the better. God is well pleased with a willing
people.

2. Moses declared them to the children of
Israel, v. 44. He
let them know what God appointed, and neither more nor less. Thus
Paul delivered to the churches what he had received from the
Lord. We have reason to be thankful that the feasts of the
Lord, declared unto us, are not so numerous, nor the observance of
them so burdensome and costly, as theirs then were, but more
spiritual and significant, and surer sweeter earnests of the
everlasting feast, at the last in-gathering, which we hope to be
celebrating to eternity.